A richly structured Spanish red wine from three of Laguardia's oldest vineyards in Rioja Alavesa.
Dark cherry and blackberry lead, with cedar, dried herbs and a whisper of vanilla spice from sixteen months in French oak. It's deep garnet in the glass, with a bright rim that hints at the years still ahead of it. The palate is full bodied and firm, ripe dark fruit wrapped in serious tannic structure, lifted by a thread of fresh acidity that keeps every mouthful lively. Give it time to open and the finish runs long, warm and spiced. Decant it if you're drinking now; this has genuine ageing potential, and it rewards patience.
Top food pairings:
"UKAN are a superb example of the modern, sub-regional focus that is energising Rioja. These vineyards in Laguardia have been producing since the 1940s, and you can taste the depth and structure that old vines bring to the fruit. Give it air if you're opening it now, or better still, put a bottle away for a few years and let it come into its own."
UKAN is the project of Koldo Eguren, fifth generation of a well-known Rioja winemaking family, created to show what careful, single-vineyard selection can do in Rioja Alavesa. Three old Tempranillo vineyards in Laguardia (Valderromán, El Estado and Zarzamochuelo, planted between 1940 and 1966) are vinified separately before blending, following the same top-wine and second-wine model long used in Bordeaux, with UKAN as the flagship and Senderos de UKAN as the second wine. We were introduced to UKAN through Jamie at fellow independent Old Chapel Cellars, who discovered the winery and first flagged it to us. We then invited UKAN's ambassador, Alejandro, over to show us the full range, and the partnership has grown from there, giving us the chance to bring you more of what UKAN does. Reserve Wines has a semi-direct, exclusive relationship with the winery.
This Spanish red wine has real power and real elegance in the same bottle. Three old vineyard plots, kept separate right through to blending, give it a depth and complexity that's rare at this level, and it's picked up 94 points from Tim Atkin and 93 from Peñín along the way.
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